STAN FISCHLER: Rangers poised for run to Stanley Cup

Sunday, January 20, 2013

ONCE OVER LIGHTLY BUT NOT POLITELY

o What's the big deal about the Giants not winning another Super Bowl? Who wins two in a row these years anyway? Nobody.

o Those who know The Maven -- start with Phoenicia's most ardent hockey fan, Pat Kern -- will not be surprised by the following Declaration of Hockey Independence: The Rangers will win the Stanley Cup in late June.

o I'm with the press guys who said nix to baseball Hall of Famers. A steroid-boosted home run is a phony home run in my book.

o As for Lance Armstrong stories, I have two things to say: enough already! (Wondering out loud: Who paid what for Lance to pedal on to the Oprah Winfrey show and then peddle his confession? Or, to put it another curious way: Which press agent decided that the OW show would be the best vehicle for Armstrong's fillibuster?)

o The most entertaining lunch I've had when it came to sports talk over the holiday season happened at Diesing's super eatery in Kingston. It was me, my buddy Joe (Spiderman) Sinnott, Sal Misasi and Cliff Snyder. And in case you're too young to remember, Misasi was one of the best long-ball hitters produced in Saugerties while Snyder topped anyone when it come to hitting it "where they ain't."

o Naturally, Joltin' Joe Sinnott was wearing his baseball Giants cap. That symbolized his love for the New York (Polo Grounds) Giants and the California variety. One of Joe's favorite stories was about Phil Weintraub, who briefly starred for the New York Giants during World War II.

o Sir Sinnott never forgets that Weintraub had the second most runs batted in during a single major league game -- 11. The Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 30, 1944, 26-8. Weintraub had two doubles, a triple and a home run. Somehow he missed getting a single.

o Getting back to Armstrong, I'm having trouble figuring out whether to admire him -- have to on many counts -- or deplore the guy.

o After all, any casual follower of the National Football League knows how to spell the word H-O-A-X.

o A rap against Lance is that he used "performance-enhancing drugs." Well, what about all the performance-enhancing aids employed by contemporary athletes? Name the sport and you'll find that performance has been enhanced by everything from batters' gloves in baseball to metallic-composite hockey sticks in the NHL.

o And need we talk about the enhancement of home run hitters and pitchers who overdid it to the point where even Hall of Fame voters added their own version of enough already!

o Since I'm not a Jets fan, I look back at the Tim Tebow-Mark Sanchez fiasco as one of the funnier episodes of a non-Giants Super Bowl year.

o One of the best, all-time, minor league sports teams, the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears, celebrate their 75th season today with an outdoor classic against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. I spent a few enjoyable nights at the original Hershey Arena, one of the finest hockey rinks in captivity. The game will be played at Hersheypark Stadium across from Giant Center, the present home of the Bears.

o If you were Islanders owner Charles Wang, would you want to remain at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum a couple more years -- before the lease runs out -- or would you do a buyout and move to Brooklyn next season? (To put it another way, I wonder whether Charles is thinking about that now.)

o My Dumb Front Sports Page Award for the year already has been won by The New York Times for its Jan. 10 edition. Imagine the paper wasted by having three-quarters of the front sports page a complete blank. It was the former newspaper of record's way of telling us that nobody got into the baseball Hall of Fame. (What a waste of nice trees.)

o You don't hear too many horse race tunes these days. My all-time favorite: "Horses Don't Bet On People, So Why Do People Bet On Horses?"

o This will shake up the Doubting Thomases: The Islanders will make the playoffs. Evgeni Nabokov will carry them in goal and John Tavares will be the star on offense. (Ask me about the defense next week.)

o Something for the Jets head coach to remember -- the words of Canadian author Stephen Leacock: "The minute a man is convinced he's interesting, he isn't."

o I still say that Goldenberg's Peanut Chews is the best candy on the market. I'm disappointed that the Mars Bar has been overshadowed by Snickers and Milky Way.

o If you don't have a copy of "Sports Shorts -- 2,000 Of Sports Funniest One-Liners" by Glenn Lieb of Clifton Park, you're missing a neat read.

o Unfulfilled Goals In My Life: 1. Walking across the old railroad bridge that spans the Hudson at Poughkeepsie; 2. Climbing our local mountain, Samuel's Point: 3. Diving into the Pete Tosi Memorial Pool in West Shokan. (Well, for one thing, diving is not allowed, and for another, I can't dive.)